Environmental status of an Italian site highly polluted by illegal dumping of industrial wastes: The situation 15 years after the judicial intervention.

In 2008 the Italian government classified the Bussi sul Tirino area (Central Italy) as Site of National Interest destined to remediation which, unfortunately, has not yet begun. The decision followed >20 years of illegal dumping of industrial wastes, lasting from 1984 to 2005, that generated the biggest illegal toxic waste disposal site in Europe. The contamination profile of the site was mainly characterized by PCDD/Fs, PCBs, PAHs, chlorinated solvents, Hg, and Pb. Due to the health concern of the population and local authorities, an extensive monitoring and biomonitoring campaign was carried out in 2017-2018, checking the site-specific pollutants in local food (free-range hens' eggs, milk from grazing sheep and goats, wild edible mushrooms, and drinking water), environmental (air and freshwaters) and biological (human urine) matrices. A total of 314 samples were processed, obtaining 3217 analytical data that were compared with regulatory limits, when available, and values reported by international literature. The sum PCDD/Fs and DL-PCBs ranged from 0.24 to 3.6 pg TEQ g-1 fat, and from 0.46 to 8.3 pg TEQ g-1 fat, respectively in milk in eggs, in line with the maximum levels established by CE Regulations except for an egg sample. As regards PAHs, all our results were lower than the literature data, as well as for Hg and Pb. Outdoor air showed levels of chlorinated solvents ranging from

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Lethality Did not Change Over Time in Two Italian Provinces.

This retrospective cohort study included all the subjects diagnosed with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection (n = 2493) in 2 Italian provinces. Two hundred fifty-eight persons died, after a median of 14.0 ±â€…11.0 days. Adjusting for age, gender, and main comorbidities, the ≥28-day case-fatality rate did not decrease from March to April 2020 (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.93; P = .6).

Treatment with ACE inhibitors or ARBs and risk of severe/lethal COVID-19: a meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: It has been hypothesised that the use of ACE inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) might either increase or reduce the risk of severe or lethal COVID-19. The findings from the available observational studies varied, and summary estimates are urgently needed to elucidate whether these drugs should be suspended during the pandemic, or patients and physicians should be definitely reassured. This meta-analysis of adjusted observational data aimed to summarise the existing evidence on the association between these medications and severe/lethal COVID-19. METHODS: We searched MedLine, Scopus and preprint repositories up to 8 June 2020 to retrieve cohort or case-control studies comparing the risk of severe/fatal COVID-19 (either mechanical ventilation, intensive care unit admission or death), among hypertensive subjects treated with: (1) ACE inhibitors, (2) ARBs and (3) both, versus untreated subjects. Data were combined using a random-effect generic inverse variance approach. RESULTS: Ten studies, enrolling 9890 hypertensive subjects were included in the analyses. Compared with untreated subjects, those using either ACE inhibitors or ARBs showed a similar risk of severe or lethal COVID-19 (summary OR: 0.90; 95% CI 0.65 to 1.26 for ACE inhibitors; 0.92; 95% CI 0.75 to 1.12 for ARBs). The results did not change when both drugs were considered together, when death was the outcome and excluding the studies with significant, divergent results. CONCLUSION: The present meta-analysis strongly supports the recommendation of several scientific societies to continue ARBs or ACE inhibitors for all patients, unless otherwise advised by their physicians who should thus be reassured.

Retrospective Analysis of Injuries and Hospitalizations of Patients Following the 2009 Earthquake of L'Aquila City.

The aim of this study was to investigate the injury patterns and the hospitalizations of patients who were admitted to hospital following the 2009 earthquake in the city of L'Aquila, Central Italy. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to analyze the patterns of earthquake-related injuries in Italy. We reviewed the hospital discharge data of 171 patients admitted to hospital within the following 96 h from the mainshock. This is an observational and descriptive study: We controlled for variables such as patient demographics, primary and secondary ICD-9-CM (International Classification of Diseases) diagnosis codes in order to identify the multiple injured patients, main type of injury that resulted in the hospital admission, discharge disposition, and average length of stay (LOS). Seventy-three percent of the 171 patients were admitted to hospital on the first day. Multiple injuries accounted for 52% of all trauma admissions, with a female to male ratio of 63% versus 37%. The most common type of injuries involved bone fractures (46.8%), while lower extremities were the most frequently affected sites (38.75%). The average LOS was 12.11 days. This study allows the evaluation of the impact of earthquake-related injuries in relation both to the health needs of the victims and to the use of the health care resources and assistance.